Tag Archives: toledo-medical

Dayum. Nurse Accidentally Throws Out Healthy Kidney How would you feel if someone threw your life-saving kidney away? According to Mail Online A brother and his sister are suing an Ohio hospital after a nurse accidentally threw away a kidney he had donated to save her life. Surgeons at the University of Toledo Medical Center removed the organ from Paul Fudacz Jr. on August 10, 2012 to give it to his then 24-year-old sister Sarah Fudacz – but a nurse, Judith Moore, threw it away as she discarded the contents of a slush machine before the operation was over. Doctors tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the organ for two hours after the accident was discovered. After consulting with the family, physicians decided not to risk using the kidney because they thought it was likely another compatible donor could be found. The hospital, which found another donor for Sarah and covered her traveling costs so she could undergo the surgery in Colorado, is now trying to dismiss their lawsuit and recover its own costs. It gets worse. Sarah, John, their parents, and their four siblings filed a lawsuit on July 29 against UTMC in the Court of Claims in Columbus.They individually demand $25,000, plus interest and the costs of the suit. Their attorney Jim Arnold said UTMC had been accommodating after the mix up but that the Ohio attorney general’s office, which represents UTMC, would not accept some of the family’s demands. On Tuesday, the medical center responded to the Fudacz family lawsuit, acknowledging the organ was discarded but denying some of the Fudacz claims, the Toledo Blade reported. Dr. Michael Rees, who performed the surgery, still works at the medical center while two nurses, Moore and Melanie Lemay, no longer work there and the administrator of surgical services, Edwin Hall, was placed on paid administrative leave. Moore, who threw away the slush machine contents before the surgery was over, resigned on September 10 last year, while the hospital fired Lemay, a full-time nurse. Lemay, who took over when Moore went on a lunch break, did not update her on the status of the surgery when she returned from her break, disciplinary records showed, the Blade reported. She has now sued the hospital for wrongful discharge, defamation, slander, and libel and seeks damages exceeding $25,000. Now her brother has to walk around with one kidney for the rest of his life…for no reason. SMH. Continue reading →